Giving way to ambulance a challenge in emergencies

SLOW public response in giving way to emergency vehicles was among the identified areas for improvement by Public Safety and Security Command Center in responding to emergency situations following the simultaneous simulation of bomb explosion conducted last Wednesday.

Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) deputy officer retired Senior Superintendent Angel Sumagaysay said that based on their assessment, the whole exercise was "good" but the challenging part was how to go through the streets.

He said that the supposed time of response was only about five to six minutes but it was delayed because of the huge influx of vehicles.

Though some gave way to emergency vehicles, others were observed to be non-responsive.

With this, Sumagaysay asked drivers of private and public vehicles to respond also with the emergency.

"I hope that once they see the siren, ambulance... They should give way to them, because these vehicles do not come out if there is no emergency," he said.

He also said they conduct drills from time to time to re-calibrate the capacity and skill of the responders.

On Wednesday, the simultaneous simulations of bomb explosion launched at Bunawan Public Cemetery and at the Davao Memorial Park were not pre-announced to validate the readiness of responders in time for emergencies.